It was an emotional moment for both the winner and the loser of the 2018 US Open as Naomi Osaka defeated tennis champion Serena Williams. The match was a fierce battle between the two stars, but in the end, Naomi was able to overcome a player she'd looked up to throughout her growing career. During the final match, Serena let her emotions get the best of her and took her frustrations out on the court. She threw her racket onto the ground, smashing it until it was bent. Instead of just throwing it away, ball boy Justin Arrington-Holmes asked Serena if he could have it. She didn't mind, so Justin scored a trophy that millions of fans would have loved to take home.
However, Justin forgot all about the misshapen racket until he did a bit of Spring cleaning. He thought he could get a few dollars for it and sold it to New York City collectibles store for $500. The store did a bit of wheeling and dealing of its own, and later Goldin Auctions got their hands on it to offer it up for auction.
Last month, Justin lamented over his decision in an interview, saying he'd wished he had a bit more help in finding out how to sell the racket properly. Well, while he took home $500 for the item, the new owner was able to auction it off for $20,910. That's a nice chunk of change, but according to CNN, it wasn't nearly the top-selling item. Jesse Owens's 1936 Olympic gold medal took top billing as it went for $615K, and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James's rookie card from his 2003-2004 season was purchased for nearly $200K.
